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What is crashworthiness or the so-called second collision doctrine? A vehicle's crashworthiness refers to the protection it provides passengers against personal injury or death as a result of a motor vehicle accident. In the legal context, crashworthiness imposes liability based on the construction or design of a product which causes enhanced or greater injuries in the course of or following an initial accident or collision. Basically, did the automobile perform adequately in the accident or collision? Did the automobile adequately protect the occupants? These are questions which are directly related to crashworthiness litigation.

The purpose of crashworthiness litigation is to promote the safer design and manufacture of automobiles. Everyone knows that automobile accidents happen. Some times, accidents are unavoidable due to ice, wet roads, or other driving hazards. Since it is impossible to prevent all automobile accidents, it is important that your automobile be designed safely to protect you and your precious cargo. The Matthews Law Firm believes that it is the duty of automobile manufacturers to design and manufacture vehicles free of defects and to provide a safe passenger compartment for occupants of the vehicle.

Crashworthiness cases have taken many forms, but nearly all of them focus on one of four basic areas of automobile design: (1) the structural integrity of the car's body; (2) the presence of occupant friendly surfaces in the passenger compartment; (3) the ability of the vehicle to safely restrain passengers; and (4) fuel system integrity (which generally relates to the design and manufacture of the vehicle's fuel system). An example of each type of case is listed below:

structural integrity:defective tires, door latches, roof structures, instability
interior design:defective interior padding, seat design, headrests, seatbelts, airbags
fuel system integrity:defective fuel tank location, fuel tank material, fuel lines, etc.

The Matthews Law Firm has handled hundreds of crashworthiness cases and the firm's founding partner, Doug Matthews, has authored numerous articles and has given several seminar lectures on the subject of crashworthiness litigation. Considered a pioneer in the field of crashworthiness litigation by many, Doug Matthews has successfully handled cases against major automobile manufacturers for more than 30 years.

To learn more about The Matthews Law Firm's results in crashworthiness lawsuits, click here.